Journal of Occupational

Background: Breast variations play an important role in breastfeeding success. It seems that this issue has not gained enough attention. The present study was designed to measure the prevalence of breast variations among women of reproductive age in an Iranian community.

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 402 pregnant women who were referred to the only maternal hospital of Rafsanjan county, Iran, was randomly recruited for the study. There were 20 items on the checklist in two sections including 14 demographic and 6 specific items. Trained physicians recorded the data in the checklist through interviewing the mothers and using their physical examination after receiving respondents’ consent. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. In addition to descriptive methods, the level of risk of breastfeeding failure with 95% CI was calculated. Normally distributed continuous variables were compared using the independent t-test and the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare discrete variables and those continuous variables that were not normally distributed.

Results: Of 402 mothers who accepted to participate, 51 mothers were detected with at least one type of breast variation giving a prevalence of 127 per 1000 mothers. The most common type of breast variation was “flat nipple” (n = 34). The existence of at least one type of breast variation among mothers increased the risk of failure in the breastfeeding process 14.1 times. Having “flat nipple” increased the risk of breastfeeding failure 11.6 times.

Conclusions: In addition to the high prevalence of breast variation among the study population, our findings illustrated its significant negative effect on breastfeeding success. Thus, health professionals’ skills must be developed in the management of breastfeeding among mothers with this problem and mothers need to be given appropriate advice on how to counteract resulted breastfeeding difficulties. More investigations are strongly recommended.

Background: Pregnancy and labor is a natural process in human life which may be accompanied with challenges. Postpartum depression (PPD) is a common type of depression. Thus, the present study was conducted to determine the frequency of PPD and its possible risk factors in mothers referred to health centers in Rafsanjan, Iran, in 2015.

Materials and Methods: The present descriptive study was performed on 250 women who had given birth in the previous 2-6 months and had referred to health centers in Rafsanjan for various care services in 2015. The subjects were randomly selected and entered into the study. The data collection tools consisted of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and a demographic characteristics checklist. The collected data were analyzed using chi-square test, t-test, and logistic regression.

Results: Among the participants, 129 (68.5%) mothers had PPD. Of the studied factors, unplanned pregnancy could predicted the incidence of PPD (P = 0.004). No difference was observed between mothers with and without PPD in terms of pregnancy order, delivery method, education level, occupation, history of substance abuse, and previous history of depression. 

Conclusions: The prevalence of PPD in Rafsanjan is high. Unplanned pregnancy had a significant relationship with PPD; thus, the related specialists and authorities must plan and take measures in this regard.